Why We Cut the Cord With Cable/Satellite

Why We Cut the Cord With Cable/Satellite

When we moved to where we are now, my husband got us DirecTV. We had some issues with them, but for the most part were happy with them. At first.

Up until the last 2 years we had them. They talked us into renewing and if we did, we would get NFL Sunday Ticket for FREE. A $100 service for FREE. So, of course, I was like YES! GIVE IT TO ME! Well, every time we would turn to one of the Sunday Ticket channels, it would say “not authorized.” So I finally contacted them about it. They said that NFL Sunday Ticket was never added to our account. I was NOT happy. I told them that it was the ONLY reason I even renewed my contract with them. They tried to back peddle. I said “oh no you don’t!” and I was finally successful in getting it and was happy. Until the end of football season came and I contacted them to go ahead and unsubscribe from it before I was charged again next season. The guy I spoke with was rude and actually told me, “why are you doing it now? You have months to do it. You should call us back then.” I stood firm and said, “No. Take it off…NOW!” To which he did.

The last straw came when I hopped online to pay our bill. The bill had gone up $20 with NO warning and really no explanation. I was LIVID! I took to Twitter (ah, the power of social media. What did we do without you?) and let loose on a verbal rampage. A little while later, my husband comes home from work. He goes, “So, what did you do today?” with this look on his face. I was like, “what do you mean? It was my day off, I cleaned…” and he stopped me. “No, I mean on the internet today. Specifically, Twitter.” I was a little confused because he is not on Twitter. He said, “I got a call from DirecTV today. They’re not happy with you…” “Well I am NOT happy with them!” Basically, they cut our bill down some on the promise that I never unleash the wrath of Twitter on them again. Hey, what can I say? Squeaky wheel gets the grease!

Then we got to talking more, a few months after that. We started talking about dropping DirecTV and just start streaming thru Netflix and HuluPlus. I was a little weary because I love my NFL and my NASCAR. But, we did our research and decided, come refund time, we would pay off the rest of our contract (we didn’t wait because we were becoming dissatisfied more and more), and get Netflix & HuluPlus.

And let me tell you – I have never been happier! No $100+ bill for DirecTV anymore! No headaches, no pain in the rear! We splurged a little and bought this HUGE antenna so we could grab over the air channels, like for our local news. And MeTV! Oh how I LOVE MeTV! But that’s another story. We also bumped up our internet to the next fastest speed. Basically, we pay $79 a month for internet, $8.99 for Netflix (we upgraded to be able to watch 2 screens at once), and $8.50 for HuluPlus. So, for $96.49, we get endless entertainment CHEAPER than we ever paid DirecTV. I forget how much the antenna was but it was totally paid for itself by now!

For anybody who is looking to cut the cord with satellite/cable, I HIGHLY recommend looking into it! I am much more happy and satisfied without it!

@lola – We were like that as well, which is why we played around with the idea for a little while. But now, we really don’t miss them plus there are apps where you can watch certain cable channels and their shows.

We cut off our cable couple years back. We was with Comcast and was very unhappy with them. Our bill kept getting higher every month and I hated dealing with them. Customer service sucked. Now we have Netflix and watch 123movies. We only pay $61 a month for internet and of course $8.99 Netflix. Heck of a lot cheaper!

I haven’t seen the reviews. Sling isn’t like having “real” tv. Just different episodes to choose from. I don’t watch it often, so there is always “new” stuff for me to look at. Maybe that’s what the complaints are about. I’m curious now. I’ll have to go look at the reviews!

@andriaperry We have Time Warner Cable and the speed we have is at a little bit lower than normal price, they always give us a little deal because we’ve been good standing customers for so long. But I love it!